Visit will put Mayo on ‘world map’ - O’Malley

Anton McNulty

A FORMER Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland believes that US President Joe Biden’s visit to Mayo will put the county on the ‘world map’.
President Biden flies into Ireland West Airport Knock this afternoon and will make a visit to ‪The Shrine of Our Lady of Knock‬; Mayo/Roscommon Hospice in Castlebar and ‪the North Mayo Heritage‬ ‪and Genealogical Centre’s Family History Research Unit, near Crossmolina, before delivering his only public speech of his Irish tour outside St Muredach’s Cathedral on the banks of the River Moy in Ballina.‬

Former Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley, visited Westport on Thursday to plan the O’Malley Clan Gathering which takes place on Clare Island from June 23 to 25.
Speaking to The Mayo News, Mr O’Malley said that the visit of President Biden to Ballina and Mayo will be a big selling point and expects the county to be busy with American tourists this summer.

“The President will certainly be putting Mayo on the world map for a couple of days. I am looking forward to being there in Ballina and this visit and the movie [Banshees of Inisherin] will make this a banner summer for Mayo.
“I can tell you with the movie tourism, you now have another layer of people wanting to see where Joe Biden visited. I think you will see a lot more people [in Mayo] who would have otherwise stuck close to Dublin and shot down to Killarney and back. You are going to see a lot more going west,” he said.

Like President Biden, the former two-time Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland also has strong family roots in the west of Ireland. His great grand-father, Martin O’Malley came from the Maam Valley in Connemara and emigrated to Pittsburgh in the 1880s. He said that the visit of President Biden to Ireland was ‘very significant’ and should not be understated on both sides of the Atlantic.
“It is hugely important and it is easy to be cynical about so many things, one of which is the emotional connection Americans have to Ireland. It really is fun as an Irish American to see President Biden on this trip and I’m sure that is true for millions of Irish Americans across America, who see a little bit of themselves being carried with the President when he comes back,” he added.